Plans

It’s a beautiful day in Aberystwyth-sur-la-mer, and little Chico is about to leave his field and head out into the world. I think he suspects, what with all the pack-saddle action of the last few days, me taking the tents down yesterday, the new thank-you-snacks, and my super-excited body language. […]

It’s a mere three days before departure, and if it wasn’t for thirty years of socialisation I would probably also poo copiously on the ground like Chico does every time I frighten him (which is daily at the moment, and today was quite green, and inside kind field-lender Hazel’s garage, […]

I know that a donkey is good at reading body language. He takes his lead from mine, and for the first few days I was jubilant – we’d picked him up smoothly, he’d come to me on the first morning, I’d not yet begun to worry too much about the […]

Well, I’m deliberately not planning the route very much. Largely this is because until we get started I don’t really know how far we can go each day, how the wild camping side of things will feel, what sort of roads will suit us, and whether Chico will deign to […]

I have been the owner of an animal for ten days, and he is still alive. But there are nevertheless a fairly regular number of things that could kill him. This week, so far, massive territorial horses, and rain. The massive horses were my own stupid fault. I had seen […]

After being pretty sociable in his field for the first day – heehawing a morning greeting at field-lender Hazel’s friend, and coming to see me when I arrived – I left Chico largely to his own devices for 24 hours. Mum and I both went and sat in his field, […]

Surely when I get the donkey in his field, life will calm down a bit, I thought? I’ll head over a few times a day to say hi and try out bits of kit on him as they arrive in the post, and we’ll go for practice walks, and in […]

Dave & Margaret told us the tale of Gnasher the evil donkey while we had a cup of coffee in their kitchen to celebrate a successful sale (shortly after picking up a borrowed trailer, driving across the middle of Wales, and leading Chico effortlessly into it). While Chico stamped about […]

Wet, is the answer. I am blinkered when it comes to weather – maybe everyone is. If I’m packing for a trip, I only pack stuff that matches the weather as I’m packing. So, although a little grizzly, it was very useful that yesterday it rained all the way through […]

Today the vet gave Chico the all-clear; all he’s concerned about, given the magnitude of my intended undertaking, is Chico’s hooves getting too worn down, and his harness rubbing, and both of those would be his worries with any donkey. So, pending the results of the blood test on Thursday, […]

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What is this all about?

The seaside donkey is a tiny adventure writ large. Starting in May 2013 I headed off around Wales, with Chico the eccentric donkey for company. The 1000-mile perimeter of Wales took five-and-a-half months to walk, and the blogs on this website tell the tale. Now I'm writing a book and making a film, due out towards the end of 2014. Sign up to the newsletter and I'll let you know how it's coming on...